$5.00 DIY Wall Art

Sometimes I find the hardest rooms to decorate are the ones I never use. I’m not sure what it is – lack of personal connection? Lack of interest? Lack of time? Either way, rooms like my spare bedroom, guest bath and kitchen elude me from a design standpoint.

I paid to have the house painted before we moved in and I swear the contractors took the liberty of overriding my color selections because my office and the guest bath are this odd teal-blue-green color. I have consulted my fan deck and the color does not exist. So, it was sheer luck that the hubs’ bachelor pad shower curtain matched the bathroom walls but do you think I could find decorator accents in a similar shade?

That would be a no.

Since I don’t care about use that room the walls stayed bare for well over a year. Then, I came across a huge piece of art at GoodWill a few weeks back.

This sucker measured 4′ x 4′ and was priced at $3.99. I was surprised no one had scooped it up until I realized one of the brace boards was broken. The colors were great and I was pretty sure somewhere in all those blues/greens was one that would match the bathroom. The original UPC was still in place so I looked it up online and holy buckets! it’s available on Overstock for a crazy, crazy price. For about 3.6 seconds I contemplated a quick fix for resale but the odds of finding another piece to match the bathroom were slim so my greediness had to take a backseat.

I let the boy pick the ones we’d use since it’s {mainly} his bathroom and he feels the need to have an opinion lately. With exception to one, he picked the same ones I did (we’ll chalk the wrong one up to his paternal dna). I squared-up pieces of scrap wood and used white glue to adhere the pieces of canvas. Then I brushed on some Mod Podge to seal the edges.

I wanted more dimension to the wood but didn’t want to stain or paint it. I know that you can restore nicks and scratches on wood with olive oil so I tested it out here. I poured a bit on a cotton ball and rubbed it with the grain. It enhanced the natural grain and didn’t leave a greasy film. {Just another way I misuse kitchen stuffs for DIY purposes!}

After adding some hangers to the backs, I went about utilizing my über scientific method of hanging pictures. You’ll notice the Target ad has been torn into squares the same size as the artwork. I like to tape up and move around demo pieces before committing to holes in the wall. It makes for much less clean up work later. Once I was happy with the composition I pounded nails, ripped off newspaper and hung artwork. TADA!

For some added pizzazz I added silver nailheads in a corner of each piece. Working from top left around to top right it tied the pieces together and played off the other metal accents in the room. (yes, I went back and filled in that scandalous hole left by the clock that used to hang there)

So what do you think? Not bad for under $5 right?

The next time you come across the ‘perfect’ piece for a room but think it won’t work – consider reworking it so that it will.

22 thoughts on “$5.00 DIY Wall Art”

Sure thing! You can pick up sawtooth hangers at any hardware or big box store. They are metal, and have two small holes and come with nails that get hammered into the piece you're creating. Their 'teeth' grip a nail or screw in the wall to hang. If you are hanging up a heavier item, you'd want to pick up a package of D-Ring hangers. They are metal, too, and screw into your project piece. These are a little harder to come by but I know Lowes has them. Another way to hang items is to screw in eye screws on either side of the photo/artwork and thread medium to heavy gauge wire between so it can rest on your wall nail/screw. I hope that helps!

That's a great looking set of wall art, and that price is awesome! I really like the way the silver sets it off, too. If you haven't already, I'd love if you'd come join my How To Tuesday link party, too.

Thanks Abigail. I find that I require weekly trips to GoodWill. And once I'm in the store, I must circle it 3 times in case they brought out something good and put it here while I was over there….happy hunting!

What a wonderful way to create your own art to match your spare bathroom! The silver nailheads add a very artsy element to it, too. Don't you just love it when you can repurpose something to fill a need in your home without it costing much – so satisfying!